Apparatus for manufacturing ice



Dec. 16, 1930. i F. HANUS APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING ICE Filed Jan. 17 1929 Patented Dec. 16, 1930 FRANK mavens otnvnnann, onto APPARATUS FOR ivranornoronme ICE Application'filed January 17, 1929. Serial No. 333,198." I

This invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing ice and has particular relation to the construction of the 'freezing'tank and the ice molds arranged therein.

In large ice manufacturing apparatus, the ice is formed in separate molds which are placed in the freezing tank in spaced rows. The freezing tank is filled witha cooling or heat absorbing medium, such as brine, in which the molds are submerged. In some forms of freezing tanks, cooling pipes- 01 coils submerged in the cooling or heat ab-v sorbing medium run longitudinally .there-,

through between the-rows of ice molds-and convey heat from the cooling or heat absorb ing medium to a point where final removal of the absorbed heat is made, while in other forms of freezing tanks, the coils or pipes are arranged at the end of the tanks inthe cooling or heat absorbing medium but serve the same purpose. In both types of freezing tanks, however, the cooling or heat absorbing medium is caused to havea positive flow be tween the ice molds by the use of propellers, pumps or other means. It is customary to so construct the ice molds stantially narrower at the bottom than at the top for the purpose of facilitating ice removal and to insure the formation of the ice from the bottom to the top. As is well known, the time required for freezing solid the water within the mold depends upon the thickness of the mold and naturally, since the molds are narrower at the bottom than at the top, it will take a considerably-longer time to freeze the water at the top of the mold into solid ice than it does to freeze the water in the bottom of the mold. time is augmented by the fact that the downwardly tapered shape of the molds permits a. much greater volume of cooling medium to pass between the lower part or sides of the molds than can pass between the tops of the molds, thus more rapidly extracting the heat from the water at the bottom of the molds than from the water at the top of the molds. This difference in freezing time between the bottom and top of the molds has proven to be a serious obstacle to the efficient and economical manufacture of ice.

that they are sub-' This difference in The. principal object of j the .present invention s to provlde an apparatus for manufacturing ce. wherein; a more eflicient control of the volume,- of fiowof thecooling or heat absorbing medium in the. freezing tank'between the sides .of the ice .molds will be effected, sothat the volume of flowofsuoh.

medium willgbe more nearly proportional to the cross-sect onal thickness of the ice tobe rormed n theqvariousice molds, or in the to equalize thetime required for. freezing thewater atthe gbottrimand atothe top of the molds.- 3 i i Additional I objects and advantages 2 iwill molds that an equal volume of flow of such medium will occur between the sides of the molds at'all points, or the volume of flowj of such medium between the sides of the molds will increase proportionately to the thickness of the molds at different points.

In the accompanying drawing, illustrating several embodiments of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, vertical sectional view through the freezing tank of an ice making apparatus, the ice molds being shown in end elevation;

Fig. Qisa view corresponding to Fig. 1 but showing a slightly different form of freezing tank;

Figsr3, 4 and 5 are isometric views of different forms of ice molds;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view through a lurality of ice molds, such as are shown in *ig. 5, arranged in spaced rows in a freezing tank,the section of the containers being taken approximately on line Figs. 7 and 8 are views similar to Fig. 6, the sections for the containers being taken,

60 different portionsof such molds,lthusf;tending.

respectively, on lines 7-7 of Fig. 4 and 88 of Fig. 3.

In ice making apparatus, it is customary to provide a relatively large freezing tank, the top of which is usually arranged adjacent the floor level, while the bottom thereof is supported-upon the ground; as. indicated at 1 in Figsl and 2. These tanks generallycomprise a metal container 2, which is suitably heat insulated by insulatingmaterial 3, such as cork, arranged along the bottom an'dsides of the container. The form of construction of the freezing tank may be conventional since it does not of itself constitute: a part of the present invention, and, therefore, will only be described hereinte an extent necessary to show the relationship between it and that part of the ice'making apparatus whichincludes the inventive subject matter.

As previously stated, these tanks are filled with a heat absorbing or coolingjmedium and have submerged in such medium aplurality of ice molds lta'rranged in spaced rows. This cooling medium is caused to flow between the mg medium, as illustratedin Fig. 1.

' rows of icelmolds by propellers, pumps or other suitable-means, while in-one form of freezing tank, the cooling pipes or coils 5 also extend between the rows of'ice molds and aresubmerged in the cooling or heat absorb- In another form, they are arranged in another part of the freezing tank (usually at the back of the tank), Fig. 2 illustrating this latter form. r

The molds are supported at their lower ends by the bottom of the tank but have their bottoms suitably arranged a slight distanceabove the bottom of the tank, such .arrangementbeing accomplished either by extending the sides of the molds below the bottoms thereof or by providing suitable raised supporting cleats upon'the bottom of the freezing tank. The upper ends of the molds extend, of course, above the level of the cooling or heat absorbing medium in the tank and are maintained in suitably spaced relationship by spacing means, such as for example, the spaced girders 6, shown in Fig. 1. Separate doors or hatches 'Tmay be provided for the different molds where it is desired to harvest only one or two molds at a time, as shown in Fig. 1, or a single door 8 may be provided for the entire freezing tank where it is desired to harvest more than one or two molds at a time, as shown in Fig. 2. The ice molds 4: are downwardly tapered'so that the bottom portion of the molds is considerably narrower than the upper portion thereof, while the width of the spaces between the rows of molds is correspondingly wider adjacent the bottom of the molds than it is adjacent the top of the molds. Consequently, a greater volume of the cooling or heat absorbing medium may flow between the rows of themolds adjacent the bottom portions thereof than can flow between the same adjacent the top portions thereof. This naturally results in'causing the Water in the molds to freeze more rapidly at the bottom of the molds than at top, which fact, when it is realized that there normally is a large difference in the time required for, freezing the water at the top-of the molds tharf at the bottom-thereof, such time being proportional tothe .thicknessof the molds, results in making "this time" difference so large as to constitutea serioushandicap to the eflicient and economical manufacture of the ice. It is thus proposed to regulate or control the volume of this flow of cooling or heat absorbing medium between thei sides of-the rows of ice moldsso as to materially reduce this'time difference.

5 'This proposal may be" accomplished in a variety of ways, several preferred methodsof which: are disclosed herein. In Fig. 1, the molds are shown as provided with flanges or battles 9 arranged at -their -"four corners projecting-laterally therefrom into-the spaces v between the 1 rows of 'm'old-si i Thi'sform 'of mold also corresponds to the 'mold illustrate'ol; inFig s'zd 'andl. The-{sidewalls 10-ofthemold tapendownwardly as b'efor'e' to facilitate the removal of ico; while the flanges or baffles 9"dimii isl1 in' width' as they approach the-top of the mol'd'an'd thus constitute baflles extend-j ing into-the spaces between. the molds so as' to obstruct the flow of tlie coolingonheat ab-j? sorbing medium between the side wallsof the rows of molds and "reduce theyvolume ofsuch flow; In-t'his form of mold,the flanges are arranged so that their outer edge is in vertical alignment was the sidewall of-"themold. at the top thereof, causing the volume of flow of the cooling medium to be substan tially equal throughout" the depth 0 spaces between the rows of molds. 9

In the form of freezing tank shown in Fig: 2, where there are no cooling pipes or coils 5 in the spaces between the rows of molds, it is possible to extend the flanges laterally outwardly adjacent the bottomof the molds beyond the vertical projection of the topportion of the side walls thereof so as to'in crease the obstruction to the flow of the cooling medium adjacent the bottom and thus have. the volume of such fiow lessat the bot tom of the. molds than at the top. In this way, the volume of flow may be made propor tional to thethickness of the molds at various points. in their depth.

In Fig. 3, the mold 4 is shown as provided with, laterally extending upwardly diminishing'ba-ffie flanges or ribs 11 arranged medially of the side walls of the mold, while in Fig. 5, the mold 4 has upwardly extending and diminishing baffle flanges or ribs 12 arranged at corners of the mold on opposite ends and on opposite sides thereof. It should be understood that whichever form of mold is f the Ito su ested herein. i3

. cording to the width and construction, of the flanges or ribs.

In the preceding description, the mold has been shown as arranged to have the cooling medium flow along the broad sides thereof,

this being typical of most standard ice making plants but it should be understood that the molds may be so arranged that the cooling medium will pass along the narrow sides thereof, the baffle ribs or flanges, of course, being correspondingly positioned to perform their function. Although the baffles have been shown as applied to the ice molds, they may be arranged between the rows of molds as, for example, they may be carried by bulkheads arranged in such spaces when no coils or cooling pipes are positioned therein, or when coils or cooling pipes 5 are arranged in the spaces between the rows of molds, as shown in Fig. 1, the baffies could be secured to the pipes of the coils and would perform the same function.

Although several preferred forms of the invention have been illustrated and described and other possible forms thereof have been it should be understood that the invention is susceptible of various modilications and adaptations within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what a I claim is:

1. In an ice making apparatus of the type having a freezing tank within which a plurality of downwardly tapered ice molds in spaced rows are submerged in a cooling or licat absorbing medium adapted to flow between the rows of molds, means for obstructing the flow of such medium in the spaces between the rows of molds in proportion to the downward taper of the molds.

2. In an ice making apparatus of the type having a freezing tank within which a plurality of ice molds in spaced rows are submerged in a cooling or heat absorbing medium adapted to flow between the rows of I molds, battles arranged in the spaces between the rows of molds and upwardly diminishing in width for controlling the volume of flow of such medium between the rows of molds so as to more nearly equalize the time required for freezing water at the top and bottom of the molds.

3. In an ice making apparatus of the type having a freezing tank within which a plurality of ice molds in spaced rows are submerged in a cooling or heatabsorbing medium: adapted toY- flow :betweensthe'; rows 5 (5e molds, bafiies carried bylithe molds sand ex; tending intmthe spaces between the rowsand formed to control the volume= of lflow toff such medium bet ween theirows' ofrnolds :in d irect' proportion to the volume of water to be.frozenin-difierent parts of'the -molds;j m-*3 1: l; fr In an ice making apparatus of the haying a"freezing?tank within: which a p'lu rality of' downwardly "tapered icemolds inspaced rows are submerged in a cooling-on heat absorbing 'medium adapted to' flow jbetween=-the rows of 'molds, baliiescarried by the-moldsand extending into the spaces be tween the rowsmnd upwardly diminishing inwi'dtli for controlling the volume of flow of suchmedium between the rows of molds so 'a'sj to moren'early equalize the time re-- quired for freezing water at the top and bot-' tom'fofathe old gia a, war-:1; 1 g .Y.

-15. {In an ice makingapparatus of the type having a freezing I tank within' 'whicln'aplu ra'lity of= downwardlytapered'ice molds in spacedarows are i submerged i in a I cooling or heat absorbing medium adapted to 1 flow I be tween the "rows: of: molds; battles carried bythe molds and-extending upwardly-from ad jacent the bottom thereof andyform'ed to control the volum'e; of flow of such medium between the rows of molds in direct f propo'r t-ion' to' the' volume of water to: be froze'n in t. J. I.

difierent'parts of themolds. 111 6. *In an ice making appa'. atus ofthe ty-pe havingfa freezing tank within which a 1 plug ra'lit'y "of downwardly tapered" ic e fmolds fin spaced rows submerged in acooling or heat absorbing l medium adapted --to gfiow' be-= tweenthe rows o'f molds, baflies' carried by the molds and extending upwardly*fr'om adjacent tliebottom thereof, said bafiies upwardly diminishing in width and projecting into the, spaces-between the rows of molds so as to more nearly equalize the time required for freezing water at the top and bottom of the molds.

7. An ice mold adapted to be used in a freezing tank of an ice apparatus comprising an elongated container of diminishing width toward the bottom, said container having a vertically extending flange projecting laterally from a wall thereof and upwardly diminishing in width.

8. An ice mold adapted to be used in a freezing tank of an ice apparatus comprising an elongated container of diminishing width toward the bottom, said container having vertical flanges extending laterally from opposite walls thereof and upwardly diminishing in width.

9. An ice mold adapted to be used in a freezing tank of an ice apparatus comprising an elongated container of diminishing width toward the bottom, said container having a flange projecting laterally from a wall thereof and extending upwardly with diminishing width .froma point adj acent the bottom of the. container toward the top.

10. An ice moldadapted to be used in a. freezing tank of an ice apparatus comprisv ing an elongated container of diminishing.

Width'toward the bottom, said container having a plurality of flanges projecting laterally from opposite .walls thereof and extending upwardly with diminishing width from adj acent the bottom of the container toward the top. I

11. In an ice making apparatus of the type having a freezing tank within which a plurality of ice molds in spaced rows are submerged in a cooling or heat absorbing medium adapted to have a positive flow between the rows of molds, means for increasing the volume of flow of such medium from the bottom of the molds toward the top thereof. 2 12. In an ice making apparatus of the type having a freezing tank within which a plurality of ice molds in spaced'rows are submerged in a cooling or heat absorbing medium adapted to positively flow between the rows of molds, means for controlling the volume of flow ofsuch medium in direct proportion to the volume of water to be frozen in difierent parts of the molds.

13. In an ice making apparatus of the type having a freezing tank within which a plurality of ice molds in spaced rows are submerged in a cooling or heat absorbing medium adapted to flow between the rows of molds, baffles arranged in the spaces between the rows of molds and varying in width from end to end for decreasing the volume of flow of such medium between the molds from one end of the molds toward the opposite end thereof.

41; In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature. 7

FRANK HANUS.

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